Pack fall in OT of District 6A-6 title game

Published: Friday, February 8, 2013 at 10:22 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, February 8, 2013 at 10:22 p.m.

BROOKSVILLE — West Port had a district championship in its grasp but let it slip away.

Wolf Pack senior Corey David missed what would've been the game-winning layup as the buzzer sounded at the end of regulation in Friday's District 6A-6 championship game at Central High School. Then Inverness Citrus made West Port pay for the missed opportunity by running away in overtime for a 73-68 win.

The Wolf Pack (17-7) got a stop with three seconds left in a 60-60 standoff and made two quick passes down court to set up David, whose attempt with zeroes on the clock bounced too hard off the backboard.

Citrus (16-10) then turned on the jets in the extra session to pull away.

The loss sends the Wolf Pack on the road to start the regional playoffs next Thursday. West Port will visit 6A-5 champion Leesburg, which toppled Gainesville on Friday in Groveland.

West Port coach Lyle Livengood expressed hope that his team would swallow Friday's setback and regroup before Thursday's tip.

"First of all, you've got to be happy that you're in the postseason," Livengood said. "We'll just do what we always do. We'll act professional the best way we can and prepare the kids the best we can. Hopefully we'll go down there and play better than we did tonight."

West Port was listless from the get-go on Friday, shooting just 8-for-25 in the first half and scoring 22 points in that span.

"We really struggled against their zone a couple weeks ago so we spent all day yesterday and today trying to get movement to get the ball inside," Livengood said. "I didn't feel like we scored a lot of points in the paint and that really, really hurt us tonight."

Wolf Pack center Drhyromi Maxwell was held scoreless in the first half, logging all 12 of his points after the intermission. Alec Jewell led the Wolf Pack with 18 points and five rebounds, while Kordell Taylor finished with 12 points.

David finished with 11, but left the court with his head hanging after his miss at the end of regulation.

"We've got to make sure that Corey knows that's not why we lost," Livengood said. "We did not lose the game because he didn't make that shot. We lost it because we simply didn't play very well and Citrus played better."

Devin Pryor paced Citrus with 19 points and 13 rebounds, including an emphatic alley-oop dunk in the closing seconds of overtime that send the Hurricanes into celebration mode.

<p><b>BROOKSVILLE</b> — West Port had a district championship in its grasp but let it slip away.</p><p>Wolf Pack senior Corey David missed what would've been the game-winning layup as the buzzer sounded at the end of regulation in Friday's District 6A-6 championship game at Central High School. Then Inverness Citrus made West Port pay for the missed opportunity by running away in overtime for a 73-68 win.</p><p>The Wolf Pack (17-7) got a stop with three seconds left in a 60-60 standoff and made two quick passes down court to set up David, whose attempt with zeroes on the clock bounced too hard off the backboard.</p><p>Citrus (16-10) then turned on the jets in the extra session to pull away.</p><p>The loss sends the Wolf Pack on the road to start the regional playoffs next Thursday. West Port will visit 6A-5 champion Leesburg, which toppled Gainesville on Friday in Groveland.</p><p>West Port coach Lyle Livengood expressed hope that his team would swallow Friday's setback and regroup before Thursday's tip.</p><p>"First of all, you've got to be happy that you're in the postseason," Livengood said. "We'll just do what we always do. We'll act professional the best way we can and prepare the kids the best we can. Hopefully we'll go down there and play better than we did tonight."</p><p>West Port was listless from the get-go on Friday, shooting just 8-for-25 in the first half and scoring 22 points in that span.</p><p>"We really struggled against their zone a couple weeks ago so we spent all day yesterday and today trying to get movement to get the ball inside," Livengood said. "I didn't feel like we scored a lot of points in the paint and that really, really hurt us tonight."</p><p>Wolf Pack center Drhyromi Maxwell was held scoreless in the first half, logging all 12 of his points after the intermission. Alec Jewell led the Wolf Pack with 18 points and five rebounds, while Kordell Taylor finished with 12 points.</p><p>David finished with 11, but left the court with his head hanging after his miss at the end of regulation.</p><p>"We've got to make sure that Corey knows that's not why we lost," Livengood said. "We did not lose the game because he didn't make that shot. We lost it because we simply didn't play very well and Citrus played better."</p><p>Devin Pryor paced Citrus with 19 points and 13 rebounds, including an emphatic alley-oop dunk in the closing seconds of overtime that send the Hurricanes into celebration mode.</p><p>Mitch Ellis also scored 19 for Citrus, while Des Franklin added 17.</p>